Fort Nelson

Fort Nelson is one of five forts built on Portsdown Hill in the 1860s. It overlooks Portsmouth and stands as a Grade I Listed Building. The Royal Armouries now occupies the fort, housing the national collection of artillery. The fort has six sides with deep ditches and three caponiers. It originally held barracks for 172 soldiers and magazines beneath the parade ground. The Nelson Monument stands nearby, giving the fort its name. The fort was built after the 1859 Royal Commission led by Lord Palmerston. It was designed to protect Portsmouth dockyard from a French land attack eight kilometres away. A garrison of 200 volunteers and regular officers would have manned the fort in wartime. Construction took decades, and the fort was fully armed only by the 1890s. It was later used as an anti-aircraft ammunition store before falling into disuse in the 1950s. Today, visitors find a restored fort with tunnels connecting magazines to gun emplacements. The Royal Armouries displays include historic cannons like the Boxted Bombard and the Dardanelles Gun. Live firing demonstrations take place daily, and costumed guides explain the fort’s history. Views stretch over Portsmouth, the Solent, Hayling Island, and the Isle of Wight. Exhibits show how soldiers lived and worked in the fort.